Despite back-to-back meetings at the White House and Capitol Hill, U.S. President Barack Obama and congressional leaders could not agree on sources of savings.
Unless they reach a deal by midnight of Friday, the current spending authorization measure lapses, which will cause parts of the federal government to close.
Key Democrats thumbed down a Republican proposal to cut $12 billion from the budget to keep the government running for one more week. Republicans dismissed Democrats insistence that they agreed to reduce $33 billion for the rest of the fiscal year.
Because of the lack of agreement, the president invited the congressional leaders to return to the White House on Wednesday. Obama added he will invite them again on Thursday if the leaders still fail to reach an agreement.
Aside from disputing how much cuts would be made, another problem area to reach an agreement is the Democrats’ demand to include $10-billion one-time cuts from some programs, which the Republicans rejected because the reductions would not be permanent.
Among the government services expected to be affected immediately by a shutdown is the closure of the Smithsonian museums and other tourists spots and a halt to processing of tax refunds.
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